Main Uses of Petroleum Naphtha
The main uses of petroleum naphtha fall into the following general areas:
- Precursor to gasoline and other liquid fuels
- Solvents (diluents) for paints
- Dry-cleaning solvents
- Solvents for cutback asphalts
- Solvents in the rubber industry
- Solvents for industrial extraction processes
Key Difference Between Naphtha and Gasoline
The key difference between naphtha and gasoline is that naphtha refers to the more volatile forms of petroleum, whereas gasoline is a petroleum-derived fuel. Gasoline, on the other hand, is a fuel that contains hydrocarbons with approximately 4 to 12 carbon atoms per molecule.
Plastics and Naphtha
Most plastics use naphtha as the main raw material. Naphtha is further decomposed thermally and separated by utilizing the difference in boiling points (temperature at which the phase change from liquid to gas occurs) to form ethylene and propylene, which are the raw materials for plastics.
Types of Naphtha
Shale naphtha is obtained by the distillation of oil produced from bituminous shale through destructive distillation. Petroleum naphtha is a name used primarily in the United States for petroleum distillate containing principally aliphatic hydrocarbons and boiling at a temperature range higher than gasoline and lower than kerosene.
